Mobilizing resources nationwide shows system's edge: analyst
Medical staff from the First Hospital of China Medical University pose for a group photo at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 4, 2020. A medical team of Liaoning, comprised of 34 medical and administrative members from the First Hospital of China Medical University, 10 medical members from Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University and two support workers from China Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, set off on Tuesday at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport to aid the coronavirus control efforts in Hubei. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)
To alleviate pressure on coronavirus-hit cities in Central China's Hubei Province, the epidemic's center, 19 provincial-level administrations have been mobilized to offer support to Hubei cities, which the public said reflects the country's solidarity amid the virus outbreak.
A total of 41 chartered flights with medical groups composed of nearly 6,000 people nationwide, including Shanghai, Tianjin, Hebei Province and Sichuan Province landed in Wuhan on Sunday, marking the largest arrival of medical workers to the city since the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, media reported.
This was part of the "one province helps one city" policy to combat the coronavirus in Hubei.
It was put forward by Guo Yanhong, an official at China's National Health Commission at a news conference on Friday.
Those provinces and municipalities shall send medical personnel and resources to various Hubei cities.
Guo said that more than 11,000 medical personnel have been sent to Wuhan to help fight the virus as of Friday. But conditions other Hubei cities like Huanggang and Xiaogan are deteriorating, with some becoming just as severe as Wuhan, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Those second-tier cities in the province lag behind Wuhan in medical resources and technology.
As of Monday, six Hubei cities recorded more than 1,000 confirmed infection cases.
Further details have not been revealed on how the policy's assistance system will operate.
Some netizens speculated it would also include transporting Hubei patients to other provinces for treatment.
Most netizens approved of the policy. Chinese social media has been flooded with heartwarming pictures and videos of the campaign.
Some netizens also resorted to an ancient Chinese myth wherein every member of the "dragon clan" gives their toughest scale to make the most impenetrable armor for one child. "We gave you our toughest scale. Stay strong, Hubei," netizens said.
A hospital in Shandong Province even made a Hubei dialect manual for their medical workers going to Wuhan to overcome the language barrier, a Shandong newspaper reported.
Many were touched by some provinces willing to help despite also being hit heavily by the virus. For example, Jiangsu Province recorded 492 cases as of Monday, and was assigned to help Huangshi, a Hubei city with 805 confirmed cases.
"We applaud and are touched by the policy. People in Hubei think they have been abandoned as we are rejected and treated differently since the outbreak. We are now seeing the outpouring of support from the whole nation, we see hope," said Yuan Lili, a resident of Huanggang, a Hubei city with 2,252 recorded coronavirus pneumonia patients.
The assistance campaign has even given rise to competition of offering help. Cities such like Qidong and Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province have also sent medical staff and resources to Jiangsu's designated city separately.
This is a vivid embodiment of how united people in China are when faced with difficulties, and also shows the superiority of China's ability to mobilize resources from the whole nation on short notice, said Wang Hongwei, a professor at Renmin University of China's School of Public Administration and Policy. He noted that such mobilization would be unimaginable in other countries.
Beijing and Shanghai were not assigned to help Hubei, which Wang believed is because with a large number of migrant workers, they face mounting pressure to contain the virus as those workers arrive for work in the next few weeks.
The same model was activated after the Wenchuan earthquake claimed almost 70,000 lives in 2008. Following the disaster, cities nationwide offered their assistance in reconstruction efforts for towns and villages that had been destroyed by the earthquake.
